New index shows energy performance of European real estate

Dec 19 | 2022

Deepki has recently launched its ‘ESG Index’ in partnership with the IEIF (Institut de l’Epargne Immobiliere et Fonciere), to help real estate professionals understand the performance of their assets and meet the challenges of the EU Taxonomy. This represents the first European benchmark measuring real estate’s ESG performance.

The index is freely accessible online and provides a top 15% and top 30% in terms of performance in primary energy consumption and, later, final energy and CO₂eq emissions, for each asset class, by country.

To achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, the European Commission has detailed certain performance criteria in the EU Taxonomy. According to these criteria, buildings in the top 15% of the national or regional building stock in terms of energy consumption will be considered sustainable investments and serve as a benchmark for the entire sector.

Deepki is publishing its ‘ESG Index’, a European benchmark with a standardised methodology measuring the ESG performance of real estate, providing owners and managers of property portfolios with a clear vision of the sector’s environmental performance, and a reference against which they can measure their own assets.

By automatically collecting actual - rather than declarative - data, from more than 400,000 assets in 41 countries, Deepki can share in-depth insights into the real estate sector’s energy performance, by asset type and location. Published and updated annually, this benchmark represents a true reflection of the European market and its evolution.

With values for the top 15%, the market is able to identify the assets contributing to a reduction in climate change according to the EU Taxonomy. The top 30% will allow the market to determine which assets contribute substantially to the EU Taxonomy’s objectives and do no significant harm in the fight against climate change.

For example, it shows that:

  • the top 15% of the retail building market in France consumes 179 kWhPE/m2 per year
  • the top 30% of the office building market in the UK consumes 168 kWhPE/m2 per year
  • the top 15% of the logistics building market in Europe consumes 44 kWhPE/m2 per year

With this first publication, Deepki and the IEIF look to encourage dialogue surrounding energy performance between players at a national and European level to construct a benchmark which is useful to all professionals within the industry. This is already the case in France, Germany and in the UK with other partners. Deepki has begun sharing its knowledge to align the methodology and energy performance values of different organisations. Deepki and the IEIF hope to replicate this across the whole of Europe, with other national organisations to provide a lasting, uniform reference, and thereby accompany the continent on its path to net zero carbon.

Vincent Bryant, CEO and Co-Founder of Deepki and Emmanuel Blanchet, COO and co-founder of Deepki, said: "We are extremely proud to be publishing this benchmark for the energy performance of the real estate sector. We believe this will allow industry professionals to better understand the sector’s performance and share their feedback with us. Only by gaining a deeper and more systematic understanding of its environmental impact can the sector take effective action to realise its fundamental transformation.”